Haruhi’s Photos: The Search and The Making
by thearchedlook
Summary: Tamaki is looking for pictures of his precious daughter. He thinks it’s about time to include Haruhi’s picture with the other Host Club members’ life-sized photos.
1. Prologue

**The Search – Prologue**

Tamaki blinked at the harsh rays of the sun. He slipped on his smoky sunglasses and eyed the murky pond with interest. A naughty cherub was relieving his bladder in the middle of the lily-infested pond. He winked at Tamaki conspiratorially and flew away.

He watched as the cherubim left a trail of emerald dust in its wake. The sparkling powder tickled his nose and Tamaki sneezed in succession. He cursed the little angel and he was sure he heard its childish giggle fading away.

A soft bobbling noise in the water interrupted Tamaki's irate thoughts. He squinted through his glasses and noticed that a brown wallet surfaced and buoyed amongst the lily pads.

He didn't know what compelled him to roll up his sleeves and pants. But soon he found himself using the lily pads as stepping stones to reach the ordinary-looking wallet. He jumped expertly from one green pad to another, timing his leaps carefully after the waves that were trying to unbalance him had already receded.

He snatched up the wallet and wringed it tight to squeeze the water out. When he flipped it open, an identification card on the wallet's clear slot proclaimed that it belonged to a Fujioka Haruhi.

The girl looked eerily familiar to someone he knew – someone he just met recently – but Tamaki just couldn't figure out who.

He decided to call his friend Ootori Kyouya because Kyouya made it his business to know everything about everyone. So Tamaki plunged into the salty depths of the pond and swam to its sandy shore.

"Welcome home, Tamaki-obochama," Shima bowed regally then straightened. Shima and his small family of maids, butlers, and drivers were standing in the middle of his sand castle's grand foyer, welcoming their young master home.

"Would you like me to take your sunglasses?" she asked politely.

Tamaki took off his tinted glasses and handed them to the old woman. "Arigatou, Shima," he said gratefully. "You're always looking out for me. By the way, what are we having for dinner?"

"Giant crabs, Obochama. We managed to get them at a special price from the Ootori family's Private Police."

"Mm, sounds delectable," Tamaki smiled. "I'll just be in my room for the mean time. Ja!"

He sprinted up the sandy stairs and went directly to the phone. He dialed Kyouya's number and waited.

As the phone on the other line rang shrilly, Tamaki looked up at the life-sized picture of his friends. He smiled fondly at them, knowing that he could easily picture them standing right beside him in this room.

Mori-senpai carrying Hani-senpai on his shoulders. Kyouya scribbling something on his ever-present black folder. Hikaru and Kaoru, their arms slung around each other's shoulders. And short-haired Haruhi standing behind the chair he was sitting in.

Tamaki frowned and glanced up again. One intricate frame was noticeably faceless and blank. Haruhi's picture wasn't there.

Ah, that's right, he remembered. He didn't have Haruhi's picture yet.

"Nani?" Kyouya's annoyed voice interrupted his musings.

"Kyouya!" Tamaki exclaimed. Then he suddenly remembered his reason for calling him up. "Er, never mind. I kind of figured what I wanted to ask you while I was waiting."

"You idiot," Kyouya muttered under his breath. "Don't call me again if it's nothing. I'm busy slicing cakes in here and their icing melts if I leave them alone. Ja."

And the beeping dial tone resonated from the telephone's earpiece. Tamaki stared at it, completely taken aback by Kyouya's abrupt exit.

"I'm sorry for intruding, Obochama," Shima intoned as a cart rolled by beside her. "I am here to inform you that dinner is served."

Tamaki looked over his shoulder and a feral grin crossed his lips when the maid uncovered a platter of steaming bug-eyed crabs.

'Oishii,' he thought. And dug in.


	2. Chapter 1

Tamaki blinked at the streaming rays of sun filtering inside the room. He thought fuzzily about giant crabs and Haruhi pictures.

'A dream?' he wondered sleepily.

"Ohayou, Tamaki-obochama!"

"Hm? Karin. Good morning, too," yawned Tamaki, recognizing the brown-haired maid who always confined her hair in a tidy chignon. "How is Mikan today?" he inquired.

Mikan was Tamaki's personal maid. She got sick two days ago when she unluckily caught the flu virus from her secret lover. He missed her and their talks about her love life. Tamaki was always making wild guesses, gamely trying to figure out the identity of her lover. Now, Tamaki was sure that she was having an affair with his driver (for Omi was the first person in the household who started sniffling) and he couldn't wait to congratulate her.

But Shima ordered Mikan to rest, along with the other four members of the household (including Omi) who caught the flu virus. They were quarantined at the south wing of the second mansion, and for the time being, Karin attended to Tamaki's needs.

Karin was perky and sweet. Tamaki found out that she was born under the vast skies of Yamagata, a province in the north east of Japan. She came to the Suou household to help her struggling family back home. Shima was a distant relation who helped her secure a job in the mansion.

"Mikan is starting to get well, Obochama," Karin answered dutifully. "The vitamin C tablets you asked me to give them is really helping."

"That's good to hear," Tamaki let out a sigh of relief. "So then, how about your brother? What gift did he choose for his girlfriend?"

Karin's younger brother, Yohji, was also in high school like Tamaki. He called up Karin yesterday because he wanted to get a woman's perspective in buying his girlfriend a birthday present. Tamaki overhead the call when Karin was hiding behind the curtains.

Though it was forbidden to take calls while working, Tamaki never thought of reporting her to Shima. Instead, he wanted to find out what their conversation was about.

Karin beamed and whispered, "Yohji bought her a pair of clip-on earrings shaped like angel's wings. He said that even if they were faux silver, they shined like real ones."

Tamaki nodded in approval. Girls loved luxury items. It made them feel pretty and special.

And as long as the earrings were only wings and they had no naughty angels attached to them, Tamaki gave it an all thumbs up.

"Ano, Tamaki-obochama?" Karin began hesitantly.

"Nani, Karin?"

"If you stay in bed any longer, you're going to be late for class."

Tamaki's eyes widened in alarm and the duvet spun with flourish as he scrambled off the bed. He dashed to the bathroom immediately, shedding his pajamas on his way there.

After he was dressed and on his way downstairs, Tamaki passed through the room where the life-sized pictures of the Host Club members were mounted. He smiled fondly at them and even greeted them a good morning.

The pictures looked like expensive portraits of his friends but in all honesty, they were only photographs shot in a famous photographer's exclusive studio. He always had a soft spot for the classics and so he asked Kyouya to find someone who could make the pictures look like paintings. With today's technology, he thought, faking some things was possible.

Then Tamaki remembered his dream this morning – giant crabs and Haruhi pictures – and thought that he should've included Haruhi's picture with them a long time ago.

"Tamaki-obochama! Please hurry up!"

"H-hai, Karin!" he shouted and made a bee line to the sun room where Shima and his breakfast were waiting for him.


	3. Chapter 2

As he settled behind the limousine's luxurious seat, Tamaki recalled he had a copy of Haruhi's school picture, taken when her hair was still long. He resorted to requesting a copy of it from the school registrar because he wanted to take a closer look at his precious daughter as a girl.

He had it resized – strictly for inspection purposes, of course. But what started as an objective assessment on one of his subjects turned into a yearning to see feminine!Haruhi in reality.

He became completely enamored at the prospect of his precious daughter looking like a proper girl. He campaigned for this and the larger copy came in handy when he was making that point in Host Club Room.

He recalled that Hani-senpai and Mori-senpai came up to him later on, also wanting a copy of Haruhi's picture. He completely understood them, for his precious daughter was truly captivating. So on that spot, he gave away the pictures to Hani-senpai and Mori-senpai, thinking that he could easily get a hold of another one.

But on the following day, Haruhi sent a letter to the registrar, appealing for their cooperation not to release copies of her ID picture without her permission. The Ouran Academy, which respects their student's rights, denied his second request for Haruhi's pictures.

Now, Tamaki planned on recopying Haruhi's picture from the ones he bestowed upon Hani-senpai and Mori-senpai. He wondered how his precious daughter's pictures were doing in their hands.

Maybe Mori-senpai practiced his amazing sword skills on Haruhi's picture. He imagined Mori-senpai ten paces away from his daughter's helpless picture. The one-by-one photo was suspended above the ground by a mere thread taped haphazardly on its back. Huge electric fans made it tricky to see target as the gusty winds sent it whirling round and round.

But Takashi Morinozuka is a very skilled swordsman. His very name even sounds noble and warrior-like. He wields a sword with grace and precision and calculation.

He breathes in deep and watches the photo, hardly the size of his own thumb, twirl madly because of the wind. It was difficult to trace the targets movements but nevertheless, Mori-senpai runs toward Haruhi's ID picture with alacrity and slices it across her beautiful face.

Hani-senpai stands up and applauds at his childhood friend's success. Mori-senpai comes over to him and pats him on the head. Hani-senpai beams up at him brightly and drags him over to his masterpiece – a mural with Haruhi's resized ID picture in the center.

His poor daughter's picture was fastened on a brick wall. Hani-senpai was thoughtful enough to paint spray Haruhi a mermaid's body, for her picture was shot at a medium close-up range, cutting off her slender body from her strong shoulders. Mermaid Haruhi sat on top a giant purple crab, her crown slightly crooked to the right.

Hani-senpai handed Mori-senpai a can of paint spray and together, they vandalized his precious Haruhi's face.

Tamaki blinked, stunned at how his imagination had seemed to have taken a turn for the worse. He shook his head, took a deep breath, and tried to clear out his thoughts.

A minute later, he frantically scrolled through his cell phone's address book and called Hani-senpai's number.

They agreed to meet in the kendo dojo during their midmorning break. After heaps of sweets and jasmine tea and idle chit-chat, Tamaki didn't get his hands on Haruhi's pictures.

But the bomb that Hani-senpai dropped in the end of their conversation caused Tamaki to race through the school in dire search for the twins.


	4. Chapter 3

"Hikaru! Kaoru! You cheats!" Tamaki shouted angrily. "How dare you claim the prize!"

The buzzing noise dominating the cafeteria halted all of a sudden. Everyone turned and directed puzzled looks at him.

He reddened, a bit embarrassed for disturbing everyone.

Then, when nothing else happened, the noise level went back up again.

Tamaki sighed out with relief then started scanning the crowd for two identical stylish hairs in the color orange. When his eyes finally located his targets standing in front a huge window, Tamaki marched resolutely towards the twins' backs. He hooked his arms around the twins' necks and brought their faces an inch apart from each other's.

"Iwas the first person who found out about Haruhi's weakness!" he hissed. "Not you!"

The twins struggled mightily under Tamaki's arms.

"Tono, what in the world are you talking about?" asked Kaoru.

"And could please step back from our personal space?" Hikaru added.

"We're feeling a little stifled under here," they chorused.

And with that, the twins ducked under Tamaki's arms and escaped. They formed a united duo in front of him, both of them fanning themselves with Hello Kitty fans.

"The people in charge the cafeteria should really turn up the centralized air conditioning system in this room," Hikaru complained.

"Yeah," Kaoru agreed. "It's sweltering in here."

Tamaki, getting impatient with the twins' inattentiveness and casual disregard for his very pressing problem, flailed wildly.

"You unscrupulous twins! You have my precious daughter's pictures with you! The ones that were taken secretly when she was still in junior high! Hani-senpai told me you got a hold of those pictures in exchange for revealing Haruhi's weak point! That's really unfair! Iwas the first person who found out about Haruhi's weakness! You guys should be disqualified!"

The twins merely fanned themselves calmly. They had earplugs stuck in their ears.

"Ah, that's right," Tamaki's demeanor turned serious suddenly. "As Host Club King, I hereby declare that you are disqualified from the Okinawa contest for violating several provisions stated in the Code of Conduct. Therefore, you should turn over those photos of my precious daughter to its rightful owner – which is me!"

And the righteous speech ended with Tamaki's hand over his heart, clearly putting emphasis the word 'me'.

The twins shrugged in response, not at all moved by Tamaki's dramatics.

"That's pretty unfair, Tono." Hikaru commented.

"Your current actions are clearly for your own personal gain." Kaoru nodded.

"Besides, isn't it your own fault for not claiming the prize sooner?" they both chastised him.

Looking contrite, Tamaki pouted childishly. "But I was keeping Haruhi's lightning and thunder phobia a secret…"

Once again the twins shrugged, not really caring. Then they walked away, probably to find a room where it was much, much cooler.

"W-wait!" Tamaki's plea echoed loudly off the cafeteria's walls. The twins turned and waited.

"H-how about if you give me one photo? Please? I should get one don't I? I-I mean, I was the one who told you about her weakness! Remember, Hikaru? In Karuizawa...?"

"But even if we wanted to give you your rightful share, Tono – " Kaoru began.

"– I'm afraid we can only give you copies," Hikaru addressed him somberly. "You see, this one is mine."

As Hikaru showed him a picture of Haruhi in her P.E. outfit, Tamaki drooled with obvious adoration. It looked like she was playing volleyball.

"And this one is mine."

He swiveled his head and Kaoru presented a picture of Haruhi taken from a ¾ rear angle. It looked as if she was addressing her classmates, reading something from the sheaf of white papers that she was holding.

This time, Tamaki exclaimed over his daughter's cuteness.

Then the twins tucked the photos back in their pockets and the rosy atmosphere enveloping the three of them vanished instantly.

"Originally, the prize of 'who can find Haruhi's weak point game' consisted of three photos," Kaoru informed him. "But we already exceeded the game's time limit, Tono, so senpai decided to subtract our winnings."

Hikaru nodded in agreement.

"That's why if you really want to have the third picture," he said, "the person you should be talking to is Kyouya-senpai. We have a sneaking suspicion that Kyouya-senpai kept the last photo of Haruhi _all to himself_."


	5. Chapter 4

**The Search – Chapter 4**

Tamaki raced out the cafeteria, stumped with inexplicable worry and dread. He whipped out his cell phone and speed-dialed Kyouya's number.

He didn't know why the very thought of Kyouya keeping a picture of his precious daughter didn't sit well inside his stomach. Kyouya was 'Okaa-san', the mother of their child; therefore Tamaki shouldn't really be alarmed by Kyouya's actions. Besides, he doubted Kyouya would do anything unbecoming towards their charge.

But still…

The moment Kyouya answered his phone after seven rings, Tamaki immediately demanded his location. Clearly, he was affected by what the twins had just said to him.

"I'm in the clubroom," Kyouya answered on the other line. Tamaki wasted no time and sprinted towards the Third Music Room in a flash.

He arrived in the room breathless, in need of precious air.

"Urgent business?" Kyouya inquired blandly, the steady tapping on his laptop's keyboard never faltered.

"You –" Tamaki wheezed, choked on air, and then tried again. "You're k-keeping a picture of Haruhi when she was in junior high. Don't you bother denying it. The twins… the twins told me everything!"

Kyouya, already accustomed with Tamaki's dramatics, remained calm.

"While it is true that I have Haruhi's photo," he began, "keeping it for my own self-interest is just absurd. I keep her picture in my portfolio. You can take a look if you wish."

Tamaki narrowed his eyes in suspicion behind Kyouya's back. Nevertheless, Tamaki didn't let go of the chance to take a peek inside the mysterious portfolio. He swiped the familiar black folder lying on the chair beside Kyouya's bag and flipped through its pages.

After a few minutes of browsing, Tamaki hesitantly asked, "You placed our pictures in a… portfolio?"

This time, Kyouya glanced up. "It's handy," he shrugged. "It also serves as a profile folder."

True enough, the members' vital and mundane information were listed on the opposite page of the photographs. If Tamaki's photo collection of the Host Club were grand and leaning to the classical side, Kyouya's were very informative and cough plain.

He barely resisted the urge to spruce it up.

At least the photos were in a special place, Tamaki mused. Kyouya does have a high regard for portfolios and such things, so Tamaki was somewhat relieved.

He smiled fondly at his daughter's picture. The wind was teasing her hair and Haruhi was trying to control her long hair from going loose. 'Ah, my cute daughter!' he thought.

But the shimmering atmosphere suddenly turned grim as Tamaki remembered his current predicament.

"Ne, Kyouya?" Tamaki asked. "Why does everyone already have Haruhi pictures in their photo collection and not me?"

Kyouya paused and watched Tamaki draw circles on one corner of the clubroom.

"Everyone?" Kyouya repeated in puzzlement. "I didn't know that Hani-senpai and Mori-senpai owned Haruhi pictures."

Tamaki sniffled pitifully. "I gave away Haruhi's ID pictures to them. I thought I could get a copy of it but they already placed it in their own collection."

Hani-senpai told him earlier that he commissioned a toy company to make stuffed toys based on the _chibi_ appearance of the Host Club members. He specified that the toys were to hold a picture frame on their chests wherein Hani-senpai encased the individual pictures of the Club members. Mori-senpai, on the other hand, was keeping an old group picture of the Host Club and he simply pasted Haruhi's small ID picture on it.

Tamaki really, really wanted Haruhi pictures on his collection, too! But to ruin the other people's photo collection just for his sake was so against his slightly questionable principles.

"So why don't you just take her pictures yourself?" Kyouya suggested. But when he noticed Tamaki's expression brighten dramatically, Kyouya retracted it and said, "On second thought – don't do that. She'll sue you for stalking her."

"Eh? But why would she?" Tamaki asked in confusion. Taking Haruhi's pictures himself was a fantastic idea—he could make an entire gallery with her as the subject!

He noticed Kyouya sending him a withering glance.

"My intentions are honorable!" Tamaki insisted but Kyouya wasn't listening. The school bell tolled and he closed his laptop with a resounding snap.

"I'll tell you what, Tamaki," Kyouya said as he rose from the chair. "If you really want to have a picture of Haruhi, I suggest you ask one from the source."

"Source?" Tamaki wondered as they made their out of the Third Music Room.

"Yes," Kyouya nodded. "Meaning Haruhi's father, Ranka-san."

TBC


End file.
